I know this is a pipe dream and something that will never
happen, but I think auto racing should be an Olympic sport.
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| Just imagine NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson (left) & IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti (right) racing for gold. |
Think about it, auto racing is something that is done
everywhere in the world and has successful and world champion drivers from a
large group of countries. I know that this certainly doesn’t mean a sport will
be an Olympics sport, just look at baseball and golf (which will be an Olympic
sport starting in 2016).
However, how cool would it be to see the best drivers from
around the world, stars of NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1 and others, competing in
one big race or tournament of races to crown the top driver in the world?
There actually used to be a series similar to that called
the IROC (International Race of Champions) Series from 1974 to 2006 where
champion drivers from a multitude of series would compete in a four race series
to determine a champion. It was mostly dominated by NASCAR drivers on mostly
NASCAR tracks, with NASCAR stars (like Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Tony
Stewart) winning every year from 1989 until the series folded in 2006, but
other racing stars like Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Jr. were crowned
champions, as well. The series went out of business in 2007 due to financial
problems.
While the IROC Series was mostly run on ovals, a potential
Olympic event (again this is just a dream) would most likely have to be run on
a road course or street circuit because most series around the world are exclusively
run on those types of tracks.
The series would also have to choose what type of car would
be used in the event. My suggestion would be to use something like the Daytona
Prototypes used in the Rolex Grand Am Series, because most drivers from around
the world are already familiar with these cars from running in a race like the
24 Hours of Daytona (which often brings in big names from top series like
NASCAR and IndyCar).
The format for auto racing in the Olympics is really
something that I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into, but could easily be
anything from just one big race with a qualifying process of either fastest
laps or heat races or could be a series of races. The number of racers per race
or the length of the race is also something that I haven’t put any thought into.
As long as auto racing was involved in the Olympics I honestly wouldn’t care so
much about many of the particulars.
I have, however, compiled a list of 50 world class drivers
from 19 different countries as proof of why auto racing in the Olympics would
be such a great idea. Can you imagine some of these guys going up against each
other for the gold?
1.
Fernando Alonso (Spain) – Formula 1 – 2x Formula
1 Champion, 30 wins
2.
Marcos Ambrose (Australia) – NASCAR - 1 Sprint
Cup Series win, 2X V8 Supercar Champion
3.
Max Angelelli (Italy) – Grand Am – 1x Grand Am
Champion, 17 wins
4.
Joao Barbosa (Portugal) – Grand Am – 2010 24
Hours of Daytona Champion, 3 Grand Am DP wins
5.
Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) – IndyCar – 11 Formula
1 wins, 1st driver to have 300 starts in F1 history
6.
Sebastien Bourdais (France) – IndyCar – 4x Champ
Car Champion, 31 Champ Car wins
7.
Ryan Briscoe (Australia) – IndyCar – 6 IndyCar
wins, 3 American Le Mans Series wins
8.
Kyle Busch (United States) – NASCAR – 24 NASCAR
Sprint Cup wins, 105 total NASCAR wins, 1x Nationwide Series champion
9.
Jenson Button (England) – Formula 1 – 1x Formula
1 champion, 13 Formula 1 wins
10.
Helio Castroneves (Brazil) – IndyCar – 3x
Indianapolis 500 champion, 21 IndyCar wins
11.
Mike Conway (England) – IndyCar – 1 IndyCar win,
1x British F3 Champion
12.
Ryan Dalziel (Scotland) – Grand Am – 1X 24 Hours
or Le Mans winner, 3 Grand Am wins
13.
Simona de Silvestro (Switzerland) – IndyCar – 5 Atlantic
Championship wins
14.
Scott Dixon (New Zealand) – IndyCar – 2x IndyCar
Champion, 29 IndyCar wins, 1x Indianapolis 500 winner
15.
Ron Fellows (Canada) – NASCAR – 3X 24 Hours of
Le Mans class winner, 6 total NASCAR wins
16.
Dario Franchitti (Scotland) – IndyCar – 4X
IndyCar Champion, 3X Indianapolis 500 winner, 20 IndyCar wins
17.
Jeff Gordon (United States) – NASCAR – 4X NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series Champion, 86 Sprint Cup wins (3rd all time)
18.
Lewis Hamilton (England) – Formula 1 – 1X
Formula 1 Champion, 19 Formula 1 wins
19.
James Hinchcliffe (Canada) – IndyCar – 2011 IndyCar
Rookie of the Year, 8 IndyCar Top 5s
20.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (United States) – IndyCar – 6 IndyCar
wins, Currently 2nd in IndyCar Points
21.
Jimmie Johnson (United States) – NASCAR – 5x
NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, 58 Sprint Cup wins
22.
Tony Kanaan (Brazil) – IndyCar – 1x IndyCar
Champion, 14 IndyCar wins
23.
Matt Kenseth (United States) – NASCAR – 1X
NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, 22 Sprint Cup wins
24.
Steve Kinser (United States) – World of Outlaws –
20X World of Outlaws Champion, 555 World of Outlaw wins
25.
Tom Kristensen (Denmark) - Deutsche Tourenwagen
Masters – 8x 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (most all-time)
26.
Andy Lally (United States) – Grand Am – 2x Grand
Am class champion, 3X 24 Hours of Daytona class winner
27.
Sebastien Loeb (France) – World Rally – 8x World
Rally Champion, 73 Rally wins
28.
Andre Lotterer (Germany) – FIA World Endurance –
2x 24 Hours of Le Mans winner
29.
Jan Magnussen (Denmark) – Le Mans – 4x 24 Hours
of Le Mans winner
30.
Allan McNish (Scotland) - FIA World Endurance –
2x 24 Hours of Le Mans winner
31.
Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) – NASCAR – 1x
Indianapolis 500 winners, 7 Formula 1 wins, 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins
32.
Simon Pagenaud (France) – IndyCar – 1x American
Le Mans Series Champion, 5 IndyCar top 5s (this season as a rookie)
33.
Miguel
Paludo (Brazil) – NASCAR – 2x Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil Champion, 10 NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series top 10s
34.
Max Papis (Italy) – NASCAR – 3 Champ Car wins
35.
Travis Pastrana (United States) – Rally Car/NASCAR
– 4x Rally America Champion, 10X X Games gold medalist
36.
Nelson Piquet Jr. (Brazil) – NASCAR – 1 NASCAR
Nationwide Series win, 20 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Top 10s
37.
Will Power (Australia) – IndyCar – 16 IndyCar
wins
38.
Scott Pruett (United States) – Grand Am – 3x
Grand Am Champion, 4x 24 Hours of Daytona winner
39.
Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) – Formula 1 – 1x
Formula 1 Champion, 18 Formula 1 wins
40.
Memo Rojas (Mexico) – Grand Am – 3X Grand Am
Champion, 21 Grand Am wins
41.
Takuma Sato (Japan) – IndyCar – 6 Formula 1 top
5s, 5 IndyCar top 5s
42.
Michael Schumacher (Germany) – Formula 1 – 7x
Formula 1 Champion, 91 Formula 1 wins
43.
Oriol Servia (Spain) – IndyCar – 1 Champ Car
win, 17 IndyCar top 5s
44.
Tony Stewart (United States) – NASCAR – 3x
NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, 1x IndyCar Champion, 47 NASCAR Sprint Cup wins
45.
Alex Tagliani (Canada) – IndyCar – 1 Champ Car
win, 6 IndyCar top 5s
46.
Paul Tracy (Canada) – Grand Am – 1x Champ Car
Champion, 12 Champ Car wins
47.
Sebastien Vettel (Germany) – Formula 1 – 2x
Formula 1 Champion, 22 Formula 1 wins
48.
E.J. Viso (Venezuela) – IndyCar – 3 IndyCar top
5s, 1x National Class British F3 Champion
49.
Mark Webber (Australia) – Formula 1 – 9 Formula
1 wins
50.
Justin Wilson (England) – IndyCar – 3 IndyCar
wins, 4 Champ Car wins,
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